Feds impose "partial ban" on Qualcomm-powered phones

Stock up on those 3G handsets, folks -- they could become very valuable commodities here in the next few weeks. As part of an ongoing series of spats between wireless giants Qualcomm and Broadcom, the US International Trade Commission has ruled that handsets containing Qualcomm 3G chipsets (and that's a whole heck of a lot of handsets) that are manufactured starting today may not be imported into the US. By all accounts, this appears to be much more than legal posturing on Broadcomm's part -- a ban is a ban -- and we've gotta believe this'll resolve itself right quick. But if for whatever reason it doesn't, get ready for an eBay free-for-all in a gloomy, scorched-earth future where the only high speed handsets are pawned for thousands of New Dollars on the black market. [Warning: subscription required]

[theninthcloud @ Jun 7th 2007 5:37PM]

Does anybody know which phones are directly affected by this?

[bessie31 @ Jun 7th 2007 7:20PM]

what phones are affected? any new phones to be launched by Verizon and Sprint... like Burnt Orange enV, w835, RAZR^2, Mogul, Treo 755p, and many other scheduled upcoming handsets. Additionally this affects upcoming At&t WCDMA handsets like SGH-727, and whatever else they have in the books. From what I know the ban is on new unreleased devices only, launched devices' can be restocked from overseas.

At this point I *see* Verizon, Sprint and At&t execs fevereshly calling Broadcom and Qualcomm begging to get this shit resolved.

[Todd @ Jun 7th 2007 5:41PM]

You can get 3G radios here, if you wanna alternative to the gloomy "scorched-earth future" painted in this post:

http://www.telit.co.it/product.asp?productId=154

[ITR @ Jun 7th 2007 5:41PM]

Glad the iPhone is not 3G now.
It would've been screwed by this delay.

[hoeun kim @ Jun 7th 2007 5:45PM]

yeh, this is so progressive. when US is behind in cellular infrastructure, they impose a ban like this. this is nothing but a backwards step. im glad people dont really care about this ban as long as 2.5g iphone isnt affected.... yeh, that should help in moving our mobile industry foward.

[ScOObyDoo @ Jun 7th 2007 6:01PM]

Haha. Serves them right. Qualcomm has been playing this game for years, and now it is backfiring on them.

[Vexorg @ Jun 7th 2007 6:11PM]

Oh, that reminds me, I should probably see about renewing my subscription to the black market...

[Ross @ Jun 7th 2007 6:23PM]

Doesn't this only apply to Qualcomm-manufactured chipsets? I can't see where this would affect other manufacturers like Samsung or Texas Instruments.

[Kai Cherry @ Jun 7th 2007 6:58PM]

I'm not sure I've personally seen a Samsung phone that didn't have Qualcomm's (w)cdma stuff in it.

[Woody @ Jun 7th 2007 7:07PM]

My el-cheapo Samsung SCH-A870 has this little sticker on the side that says, "Digital by Qualcomm". My phone isn't 3G, but if Samsung usesQualcomm's 3G chips in other models, and the might since they use other chips from Qualcomm, Samsung might be affected.

[Totalfixation @ Jun 7th 2007 6:25PM]

error in the column engadget, "right quick" should be "real quick"

[pandafury @ Jun 8th 2007 2:31AM]

I think he was trying to be "olden tymes"

[Ryan @ Jun 7th 2007 6:30PM]

It's a southern thing. I know a few people who say "right quick." Obviously it's not proper english but right quick = real quick in slang. just like sister = aunt= mom in WV

[John B @ Jun 7th 2007 11:27PM]

Okay, time to play "grammar nazi". The CORRECT term is "realLY quickLY". Those things are called "adverbs" and they're SUPPOSED TO end in "ly". I don't know when or why we Americans started to drop the "ly" off the end of our adverbs, but it's really annoying and gets old really quickly.

{Andy Rooney}
And when did we start dropping the "to" after the word "help"? How did that happen? There's supposed to be an infinitive after "help"because a verb is being treated as an object. So, it would be nice for someone to help me to figure it out really quickly.

And why do people in southern Pennsylvania drop the "to be" after the word "needs". Nowhere else in the country have I heard that someone's car "needs fixed".

And while we're at it ....
{/Andy Rooney}

[Fourbin @ Jun 7th 2007 6:29PM]

@Totalfixation: Actually, they wanted to use 'right quick' it's slang.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=right+quick

[Chris Moroz @ Jun 7th 2007 6:41PM]

So that's the real reason iPhone's not 3G.. they knew it was coming all along!

[bessie31 @ Jun 7th 2007 7:05PM]

what phones are affected? any new phones to be launched by Verizon and Sprint... like Burnt Orange enV, w835, RAZR^2, Mogul, Treo 755p, and many other scheduled upcoming handsets. Additionally this affects upcoming At&t WCDMA handsets like SGH-727, and whatever else they have in the books. From what I know the ban is on new unreleased devices only, launched devices' can be restocked from overseas.

At this point I *see* Verizon, Sprint and At&t execs fevereshly calling Broadcom and Qualcomm begging to get this shit resolved.

[akira @ Jun 7th 2007 7:38PM]

The order excludes models that are already being sold in the US.

Here is the verbage from the USITC.
"The exclusion order does not apply to handheld wireless communications devices that are of the same models as handheld wireless communications devices that were being imported for sale to the general public on or before the date of the order, June 7, 2007. However, the order does bar the importation of new models of handheld wireless communications devices that contain Qualcomm's infringing chips and chipsets. Thus, the order "grandfathers" models of handheld wireless communications devices being imported into the United States for sale to the general public on or before June 7, 2007."
http://www.usitc.gov/ext_relations/news_release/2007/er0607ee1.htm

So if you can buy it today, you can buy it tomorrow.

[John Stracke @ Jun 8th 2007 9:25AM]

Interesting. I suppose that makes the order easier to enforce, at least.

[a @ Jun 7th 2007 9:10PM]

why did they get baned? health problems??

[Jamar @ Jun 7th 2007 9:35PM]

So I can't bring my Japanese 3G phone back with me? I'll have to get a new one to use in the States? Just great. I spend $300 on a nice phone only to see that I need to spend more for another one.

[Mark @ Jun 8th 2007 12:45PM]

You wouldn't have been able to use the handset in the US anyway, Qualcomm ban or not. And I highly doubt that customs will care that it has a Qualcomm chip in it.

[kompression @ Jun 7th 2007 11:19PM]

Anybody wanna buy a Cingular Sync?

[Rob @ Jun 8th 2007 10:02AM]

seriously... fuck intellectual property... try doing something to benefit the consumer once in a while.

I could care less if Joe Douchebag came up with the idea for text messaging back in 1979 and waited for someone else to invent it so he could cash in... dont punish me for buying a legitimate product from a legitimate company that might have sorta kinda stole someones idea.

Go capitalism, w00t!!

P.S. yeah i know this post has nothing to do with text messages... it's an example

[sean.boots @ Jun 9th 2007 2:40AM]

Exactly. I really honestly wonder if current "intellectual property" ideas really make the world a better place. (read: not a chance, when you look at the whole picture.) I mean, if one company really does spy on another company and steal their ideas, that's one thing. But say someone comes up with a brilliant idea *on their own*, not knowing that someone else has already claimed the idea. As we watch these companies sue each other to death, you really have to wonder how it's solving the world's problems. This isn't a moral issue; it's a matter of greed.

I guess I shouldn't get started on frivolous patents, ridiculous copyright terms, and pharmaceutical patents & international IP laws that really actually kill people in poorer countries.

What a world.


(Sorry, engadget, this was way off-topic. But Rob, I totally agree. Couldn't our governments think about the consumer for once, not the corporations?!)